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Karabakh To Join Talks, Says New Russian Co-Chair

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  • Karabakh To Join Talks, Says New Russian Co-Chair

    KARABAKH TO JOIN TALKS, SAYS NEW RUSSIAN CO-CHAIR

    Asbarez
    Apr 29th, 2010

    STEPANAKERT (Combined Sources)-Karabakh should take part in the
    ongoing peace process at a certain stage of the talks, new OSCE Minsk
    Group Co-chairman Igor Popov told reporters Thursday after talks with
    Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakian, reported news.am.

    The Azeri foreign ministry was quick to comment with its spokesperson,
    Elkhan Polukhov, insisting that the so-called Azeri community of
    Karabakh would also be part of the talks.

    "Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that at some stage both Armenian and
    Azeri communities of Nagorno-Karabakh will undoubtedly be involved in
    the negotiations on resolution of the Karabakh conflict to determine
    the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan's territorial
    integrity," said Polukhov.

    After meeting is Yerevan with President Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign
    Minister Eduard Nalbandian, Popov traveled to Stepanakert and met
    with Sahakian. The two discussed a wide-range of issues including
    the imperative for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, Karabakh's
    socio-economic situation and progress in the reconstruction of the
    Stepanakert airport.

    Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's Foreign Minister Georgi Petrossian also
    took part in the meeting.

    "I am in a mood to make every effort to have the conflict resolved as
    soon as possible," Popov also told journalists afterwards, reported
    RFE/RL.

    Popov paid his first visit to Armenia and Karabakh in his current
    capacity one week after accompanying the Minsk Group's outgoing Russian
    co-chair, Yuri Merzlyakov, on a trip to Baku. The two diplomats were
    joined there by their U.S. counterpart, Robert Bradtke, and received
    by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

    In a subsequent joint statement also signed by the group's French
    co-chair, Bernard Fassier, the mediators spoke of "a new impetus to
    the advancement of a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
    conflict on the basis of the Madrid Principles." They said they
    will meet in Vienna early next month to brief the Minsk Group on the
    current status of the Karabakh peace process.
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